FIELD TESTED

Marine recruits face their Crucible at Camp Pendleton

The recruits are starving and exhausted by the time they crest The Reaper, the last hill at the end of a grim 72-hour stretch of basic training known as The Crucible.

By this point in their 13-week transformation from civilian to Marine, the 478 young men of Charlie Company, 1st Recruit Training Battalion, have been pushed to their physical and mental limits.

They have gulped for air in a gas chamber, snot streaming down their faces after removing their masks. They’ve fired their rifles, sending bullets 500 yards. And drawn inspiration from the likes of Medal of Honor recipient John Basilone to keep charging up the hill, long after they wanted to quit.

Now they trudge on a 12-mile hike through night and frigid rain, fueled on one MRE ration and a couple of hours of sleep a day. Their drill instructors keep saying this is the last hill. But there are always more.

Suddenly, it’s over. Dawn is about to break when their humped-over silhouettes loaded with heavy packs emerge from the darkness. American and Marine Corps flags fly in the distance and heroic orchestral music plays from loudspeakers.

The journey began when they stepped off the bus onto the yellow footprints at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego, standing in formation as shaggy-haired civilians. Now it is complete.

On Thursday, they earned the right to call themselves United States Marines.

A public graduation ceremony for family and friends will take place at the depot where they did most of their basic training. This ceremony atop The Reaper at Edson Range is a private moment between newly minted Marines and the drill instructors who led the way.

1st Sgt. Christopher Demosthenous gathers the recruits for a talk about the Battle for Iwo Jima. Those five Marines and a Navy Corpsman who raised the flag on Mount Suribachi during World War II were just like you, he said.

Men from different parts of the country, different backgrounds, united by Marine Corps values of honor, courage and commitment.

“They joined in a time of war, knowing full-well that many of them may go to combat and some may not return. Those warriors past are no different from you, except they’ve fought their battles, and established our legacy that is your duty to uphold.

“Together you have faced the final challenge. You now share a bond forged through hardship that cannot be broken,” Demosthenous said.

“You have all proven that you deserve to be a part of the American warrior elite. You should all remember this day with pride, because you have accomplished what few even dare to try.”

Sgt. Brandon Karnes, 25, senior drill instructor for Platoon 1053, moves down the line of men in formation. He says a few words to each before he places the Eagle, Globe and Anchor insignia in their trembling hands.

“Do you think your dad is going to be proud of you?” he asks Pvt. Kale Milette.

Milette, like many of the others, has tears streaking down his face smeared with dirt and camouflage paint. He clenches his jaw and presses his lips together to compose himself.

His father, Gunnery Sgt. Kyle Milette, flew in from New Orleans to see not one, but two of his sons become Marines this morning, Pvt. Milette and his stepson, Levi Haymaker, both 18.

Parents aren’t usually allowed to attend the Eagle, Globe and Anchor ceremony. The family set the foundation, but the Corps built the Marine.

“It’s a very intimate moment between a drill instructor and Marine,” said Capt. John McNabb, a former recruit company commander working on staff with the training regiment.

Growing up in a Marine family, Pvt. Milette attended eight schools before graduating from high school.

“Active-duty life is hard, it’s hard on the Marine, it’s hard on the Marine’s family,” his father said. “The fact that they were willing to endure that, to serve their country, serve themselves, serve their brothers-in-arms, it blew me away.”

Seeing them get their Eagle, Globe and Anchors, “It’s very emotional. It’s a deep sense of pride and honor, now that not only are they my sons, they are my brothers.”

About 15,000 recruits train to be enlisted Marines annually in San Diego. The other half, including all female recruits, go to Parris Island, S.C.

The Corps added The Crucible in 1996 to make boot camp tougher. Marine basic training is the longest among the armed forces and the only to include shooting at 500 yards — five football field lengths.

“We have to be able to get this kid, whether he is a clerk, jerk, or candlestick maker, to be able to persecute targets. They have to be able to master the rifle.”

Some argue that other aspects of boot camp training are more important, such as drill. “But drill doesn’t kill the enemy,” Kyzer said.

Sgt. Dustin Martin, 26, another senior drill instructor, said everything they teach is tied to combat. “They were kids when they got here just a few weeks ago, and now they are men.

“When they leave here, they are going to a job where people live to fight, fight to kill, to serve their country. It’s a pretty big responsibility.”

Pvt. Brittain Schneider, 19, from Tigard, Ore., dreamed of this day for years.

“It was tough. But that’s what I expected. I didn’t ask for anything else,” he said.

The hardest part?

“Working with 82 other recruits that sometimes didn’t want to listen,” he said. “On the obstacles, many of them are teamwork built. If one person tried to do it alone, it would be next to impossible.”

The obstacle course focuses on problem-solving under stress, like how to get your team and your gear across an enemy-mined rope bridge using only short ropes.

Pvt. Kevin Belchez, 20, from San Diego, joined after an unsatisfying stint at community college. He wanted to become a Marine, “to better yourself as a person, protect your country, and fight for those who can’t fight for themselves.”

The training was tougher than he expected, but so was he.

“I never thought I would make it this far,” he said, not until he saw those flags waving in the distance. “Every day I was like, ‘what am I doing here?’ Every single day.”

Capt. Juan Plancarte, the company commander, told them to remember this moment. “Some of you hesitated. Some of you wanted to go home. Look at you now.”

That is what makes a Marine: “It means having passion, commitment, dedication, looking after the welfare of your fellow Marine,” he said, pacing before them, “When it gets tough, we execute. ... We are the few. We are the proud.”

Then as if on cue in a war movie, the sun peeks for the first time above the clouds as the Corps’ newest Marines begin belting out the Marine Corps hymn.